Tag Archives: life

A Saturday drive.

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For the last 15 years, Becker Vineyards has had a Lavender Festival.   Its been one of the things on my todo list.   This year, i put it on my calendar several months ago, so I wouldn’t miss it.    And, it worked!   Today we headed out for a long drive through the hill country, in the miata with the top down.   And we had a really great day…

We walked out through the lavender fields.  They have several different varieties.  It didn’t look quite like I had expected – i was imagining endless rows of deep purple, like in Provence.  But it was pretty, nonetheless.

In bloom.

In bloom.

They also grow their own artichokes.   I have never seen them in the wild before!

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Artie chokes three for a dollar :)

We walked through the vendor booths.  Lots of lavender goodies, flowers, herbs, nibblies and such. 13042703

Then one more walk through the fields, this shot is looking back at the winery.13042704

We packed a light lunch and ate it at the festival while sipping wine and listening to the Raggedy Cats (we really enjoyed them).

Then a winery tour.   Lots of new factoids.   Becker has been here 20 years or so, and in that time, they’ve increased the amount of their wine that they make from grapes grown at the winery to 85%.  The rest come from Lubbock.13042705

Can’t wait for the Fredericksburg peach harvest!13042706

On the way home we decided to dodge the brewing thunderstorms and buzzed over to Der Lindenbaum in Fredericksburg for some German home cooked food for dinner.

The festival is open tomorrow, too.  Get out there if you can, this year or next!

A modest proposal.

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I have been enjoying swimming at the gym, for the last few months.  I’m slow and steady, and have worked up to being able to swim a mile in an hour.  However, the chlorine is wreaking havoc with my hair, skin, nails and most recently my jewelry.  So today I left my rings behind at home – hanging on the cabinet door handle.

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Now, i have no idea if the fact that I wasn’t wearing my wedding band had anything to do with it… but I had an interesting encounter in the steam room after my swim.  Usually the steam room is full of men and women of all ages, shapes and sizes.  Today, however, when I entered the steam-filled room, there was only one other person there.  Until today, my experience was that steamroom etiquette was a lot like elevator etiquette – you pretty much keep to yourself and exit when you’re ready.

Today, after about 5 minutes, the one other person in a blue swimsuit walked over to me.  Here is the conversation that followed:

blueswimsuit:   <mumble mumble>
me:   “sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the steam vent”
blueswimsuit:   “I said, do you live nearby?”
me:   “Yes”
blueswimsuit:   “well, would you be interested in giving me a sensual oil massage?”
me:   “Uh. No.” <pause>  “I don’t think I would be very good at that.”
blueswimsuit:   “Oh, its pretty easy, you just rub oil on my shoulders and back.”
me:   “No. I wouldn’t be good at doing that. Sorry.”
blueswimsuit:   “are you sure?”
me:   “very sure, thanks.”

After that, she walked back over to her side of the steamroom and we sat there for another ten minutes by ourselves until another person joined us.

Just another day at the gym, i guess. :)

Crit sittin’.

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Yesterday afternoon I was pulled into a critical situation with a client (aka a “crit sit”).  This usually means 24/7 phone calls with a dozen or more people from all corners of the planet to diagnose what caused a problem in a client’s IT environment, and then fix it.  So it’s been a long day or two… and will be a long weekend.

But…. look what Monte made me today!     :)

A nice thing.

A nice thing.

Red skies at night.

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Lovely sunset.

Lovely sunset.

Today is the last day of my vacation.  Tomorrow it’s back to work for me.

My day started with a mimosa and ended with a glass of champagne — with this absolutely gorgeous sunset squeezed in between.  I snapped this as we headed to BB Rover’s for a quick dinner.

Monte and I have discovered the Showtime series called The Tudors.  We don’t have Showtime, but BBC America is broadcasting past seasons’ episodes via cable.  Yesterday and today have been a marathon session of season’s 1 and 2.   I found seasons 3 & 4 on Amazon Instant Video, so we can stream them for free at our leisure.  :)   Speaking of leisure… I can’t wait til Friday!

Gather round and be merry.

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We went to Laura and Arnie’s Christmas party tonight.  It’s become a tradition, and a most fun one at that.  Everyone ends up gathered around the piano belting out Christmas songs.  Some scenes from the evening:

The setting.

The director.

The script.

The script.

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The actors.

Sister time (and a little football).

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The always stunning Olympic Mountains.

The always stunning Olympic Mountains.

Last night my mom and I went over to Noreen and David’s for dinner.  Colleen and Jake drove over and joined us.  After dinner we all sat around just telling funny stories for a couple hours.  It’s nice to laugh like that.  Everyone in my family is a comedian it seems…

Instead of driving all the way back to Seattle, Colleen and Jake slept at my mom’s, as we were planning on going to Francine and Art’s in the morning to watch the Seahawks game… a rare treat for me, since in Texas all that is usually on the networks is the Cowboys or the Texans (ho hum).

When I went out the front door to get the paper I was greeted by this stunning view of the Olympics.   They seemed particularly white today.

Francine whipped up some biscuits & gravy and mimosa’s — breakfast of football divas   :)    Noreen and David came over after church and we all cheered and screamed at the refs until the Seahawks won in overtime.  Awesome!

Not up the river.

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November Raft-up.

Usually every November a large contingent of sailors head up-river for a multi-day raft-up…aka an Up-the-river cruise.  This weekend the winds were so light, noone was interested in motoring for 6 hours to get up river.  So, plans changed.  Instead, we rafted up in a cove about 5 miles from our marina.  It was a really lovely night, though.  Temps got down into the 40′s but we were toasty down below.   We baked pizza in the oven on Nirvana, and it turned out quite tasty.

We had 6 boats stay overnight.  This shot was taken this morning by Robert from the dinghy, after Eric and Micheline left on Karma.  We’re on the left on Nirvana, then Rory & Greg on Sapphire, Robert on Voodoo, Tony & Sharon (and Aussie) on Wind Thief, and Gray & Debbie on Sacre Bleu.  This morning the winds finally picked up.   We had a really nice sail back to our cove.

It’s Sunday, and I have 7 more days of vacation!!!

Roughin’ it.

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Spaghetti di Arky.

Yesterday we set out for the lake to raft up with Lori & Dave on Camelot.  We put our repaired jib back on.  And Julie met us at the slip.  We were the only two boats on the lake, i think, given the continued forecast of rain.

We anchored up in Arky south last night, expecting some good downpours after midnight.  Lori and Dave hosted us to a delicious spaghetti feast on their boat.   Thanks guys!

We played iPod wars for a bit and turned in relatively early.   The rain really didn’t start until about 8 AM.  And it still hasn’t quit.   No complaints here though.  The lake is up a total of about 11 inches since Wednesday.  Keep it comin!

We played rummy in the cabin for several hours and then headed back to the slip.

Now we’re back home and pizza dough is being whipped up as I type this.

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend!

Eleven years on.

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Never forget.

I’ve had an eerie experience this morning.  Monte went to the marina last night for some repairs to the jib, and spent the night on the boat.  So I’m up drinking coffee and watching the morning news by myself.  The very same kind of morning I was having 11 years ago today — when I watched a plane fly into the World Trade Center.

At about a quarter to 8AM, central time, it all started.   I recall the evolving emotions I felt …disbelief, anger, uncertainty and confusion throughout the rest of the day as events unfolded.  I went to work that day, but everyone was glued to their web browser or TV monitors.  And then came the prolonged feeling of what can only be described as grief, as I watched the aftermath of the attack play out on television over the following days and weeks.  I did not experience personal loss of family or friends in the attack, but I believe all Americans were mourning the loss, together, of an attack directed at all of us.

Since then, life has moved on for me, bringing both joy and loss.  But in reflecting on that day 11 years ago, it’s startling to realize how quickly the time has flown by.   And, it’s embarrassing to note that I let too many of my days be filled with meaningless concerns and busy work.

So, on this day I pause to remember those that lost their lives, those that sacrificed their lives for others, the family and friends that experienced inconsolable loss, the feeling of national unity that today seems unattainable, and the responsibility we all must bear to live each day of our lives to the fullest.

Perseids raft-up.

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1st raftup with Nirvana in the books.

It’s Sunday night, and the end of another great weekend.  Yesterday my cousin Devitt and Aunt Joanne came over for a breakfast visit with Monte, Julie and I.  Monte made french omelettes, Julia Child style.  And we tried our hand at a potato recipe that we got from Devitt:

Browned Breakfast Potatoes

Large cast iron skillet
8 oz bacon, cut into 1-2″ pieces
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2″ cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt & pepper

Cook bacon, onions and garlic in large cast iron skillet until browned.  Discard bacon fat from pan.  Add potatoes, salt & pepper.  Cook another 10 minutes or so over medium heat on the stovetop.  Then place skillet, uncovered, in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Lower temperature to 350 and cook for another 10 minutes.
Serve and savor!

Afterwards, Julie headed home to study up for the last final exam of Summer session (good luck!), and we packed for the lake.

We planned to raft-up with friends overnight to watch the Perseids meteor shower.  We made it to the cove by about 5pm and set our first anchor on the new boat.  It was a good set.  We were soon joined by Joe on Prelude, Rory & Greg on Sapphire, Nick, Laurene & Morgan on Kalliopi, and Kurt & Kevin on Dancer.  Everyone was tied up by the time the golden hour was upon us.  The shot above is of the 5 boats, stern to the sunset.  Nirvana is in the middle.

After dinner and stories from the day, everyone grabbed a cushion and laid on the bow of their boats to watch for meteors.  It wasn’t a knock-out show, but we did get to see some good ones.   The night was peppered with random shouts of “There’s one!” every 10 or 15 minutes.

This morning everyone floated for a while and then people started peeling off at about noon.  I’m pleased to report that we got the anchor up with little problem.  I am loving the electric windlass to bring up the chain and anchor!

Monte and I sailed ALL afternoon.  The breezes started out sluggish but filled in to some great wind that we haven’t seen in a long time on the lake.   At about 3:30 we dropped sail and picked up Devitt at Arky cove to take him out for a sail.   He did great, taking the helm as Monte and I worked the lines.  We dropped him off back at the park around 5:30 and headed back to the marina.

By the time we got home several hours later we were pleasantly exhausted.

I can’t wait to get out there again.   Friday soon come!

Life in the woods.

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Thoreau’s view — 165 years later.

As I was driving past Concord on the way to my hotel on Tuesday night, I saw signs for Walden Pond.  THE Walden Pond.  You know, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond, from his 1854 book Walden.  I remember reading that book back in high school, over 30 years ago.    It made a deep impression upon me at the time, but I haven’t thought about it again since then.   Thoreau decided to live in the woods and did so for over 2 years, from 1845-1847.  He later wrote the book from his notes and observations from the time he lived simply amongst nature.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”  – Henry David Thoreau

I really wanted to see Walden Pond for myself.  So, after my last meeting today, I drove there before closing time and took a walk.  It was interesting to see how close the pond is to town, and actually in his book he says that even back in the 1840′s the lot where he built his 1 room cabin was only about 1 mile away from neighboring farms.

There’s a walking trail around the lake, about a 1 3/4 mile loop.   The pond is now a state park and when I arrived it was packed with people sunning on the banks and swimming in the lake.  A little bit more bustling than when Thoreau lived here.

I walked to the site of his cabin.  It’s not there anymore, but the foundation is marked, and there is a huge pile of rocks next to where it stood.  A pile that visitors have been adding to over the years – one rock at a time.   I placed my rock atop the pile before I left.

The picture above is a view from the edge of the pond closest to where his cabin stood – about 100 feet behind me.   I like that I accidentally captured the gibbous moon in the top left corner.

The picture below is one that I took looking up as I was standing in the spot that would have been right outside the front door of his cabin.

Very beautiful.

This is a quote from the park brochure:

“…my friends ask what I will do when I get there.  Will it not be employment enough to watch the progress of the seasons?”  – Henry David Thoreau

You got that right, Henry.

I’ll have to dig up a copy of Walden to re-read, for old time’s sake.

Surfdancing.

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I love this pic.

When I got my Mac, I realized that it could only open the windows filesystem on my old USB backup drive in read-only mode.  Not great for doing backups.  I’ll need to reformat it to use it.  But I’ve been procrastinating, because i’m going to have to sort through what’s on there to see what to keep and what to get rid of.  So this week I took the first step – I copied most of what was on the backup drive to my mac to prepare to reformat the USB drive.

Consequently, the next time I opened Picasa, it found ALL the photos that I had just copied and loaded them into its library, which took a while.  But, once it finished, it makes for very easy viewing of many years of pictures.  So, I’ve been spending a lot of time this morning browsing through photos I’ve taken that I haven’t looked at for years.

When I got to this one I thought I’d share it with you.   This is a photo that I took when my sister, Colleen, and her son, Jacob, were visiting about 4 years ago.  We drove down to Port Aransas for the weekend, and stayed a place right on the Gulf-side of the beach.   This is a picture of Colleen and Jacob jumping together in the surf.   I used some piece of software, can’t remember what, to create a water-color effect — oh, and I edited out the oil rig on the horizon :( .  I later printed this and framed it for her.

I guess it’s kind of appropriate, too, because this is Mother’s Day weekend, and she’s a great mom.

I have to smile every time I look at this pic.

Walk with me.

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Not my walking shoes.

I had a long day of meetings today.  Tomorrow evening I fly back home – always the best part of a business trip.

I didn’t take my camera with me this morning, so by the time I got back to the hotel it was dark, I was tired, had little material to work with, and was searching for inspiration for a blog post.  During my daily catch-up on blogs I read a post on the wordpress blog itself from last week.  It was an announcement for the 2nd annual WorldWide WordPress 5K, on Sunday, April 29th.  The WWWP5K is a virtual 5K, originally conceived by the employees at Automattic, the company behind WordPress, to get their geographically-dispersed fellow employees to run or walk a 5K “together,” each in their own locations.  They invited the entire blogging community to join them and to blog about it.   Last year I did.   And I plan to again this year.

Thanks WordPress for a fun idea, and for providing me with the inspiration for a photo for today.  I didn’t bring my running shoes on this trip, so these will have to do.

Mark your calendars, and walk with me!